A kangaroo is a large jumping animal native to Australia, famous for its powerful back legs, long tail, and the pouch where mothers carry their babies. Kangaroos don't walk like most animals. Instead, they use their muscular hind legs to hop, sometimes covering 25 feet in a single bound and reaching speeds of 35 miles per hour. Their thick tail acts like a fifth leg, helping them balance when they're sitting and providing extra push when they leap.

Female kangaroos carry their tiny, underdeveloped babies (called joeys) in a fur-lined pouch on their belly. A newborn joey is only about an inch long, smaller than your thumb, but it crawls into its mother's pouch and stays there for months, nursing and growing until it's big enough to survive outside.

Kangaroos are marsupials, a group of mammals that raise their young in pouches. They live in groups called mobs and graze on grass and plants. The largest species, the red kangaroo, can stand over six feet tall. Male kangaroos sometimes fight by balancing on their tails and kicking with their powerful legs, a behavior called boxing.